Chinese music. How Russian pop culture conquered China and Japan Famous Chinese groups
about the band's adventures in Japan and offended fans
“Lena and Yulia liked to say in interviews that Vanya Shapovalov had the following conviction: the Japanese are crazy about porn films with, let’s say, extremely young-looking actresses. And this allegedly also played a role in the crazy success of the group, which at one time sold more albums in Japan than Madonna and The Beatles. To me, the Japanese, as well as the Koreans and Chinese, seemed very innocent, at least during our promotional trips and Asian concerts. However, that fateful Japanese promotional tour, after which Tatu lost the Japanese market, happened precisely because no one knew the culture and traditions. The girls (then just girls) left the live broadcast of the most popular talk show on Vanya’s instructions, and the Japanese were terribly offended. Well, that's not how they do it. Moreover, they were offended not at the level of the people from this talk show or the host of this show, but the entire Japanese fan base considered such an act disrespectful, although in the morning the police blocked the streets of Tokyo so that the group could leave the hotel. And from the next day, for a long time, fans practically refused to buy Tatu discs. Universal label managers were shocked. So when we came to Japan in 2005 to promote our second album, Dangerous and Moving, everyone had the same mantra: “We have to win Japan back.” It seems to me that on that trip we all became a little Japanese, polite, punctual - don’t find fault! I even learned to give and take a business card in Japanese - holding it out with both hands with a slight bow of the head. In general, Japanese Tatu fans are wonderful! To be fair, I must say that I have seen erotic fan manga with tattoos. But at concerts the Japanese are not always emotional. They can just stand and listen, without any dancing or just any movements and gestures. It seems to me that it is not easy for an artist to perform in front of such an outwardly reserved audience.”
Pop musician Alexey Goman
about Asian fans, their manga portraits and the Chinese love for Russian patriotic anthems
“I myself have never been to China, and the love of the Chinese for my songs, to be honest, surprises me. But it is there. Chinese fans often write to me on Facebook and on the forum - they somehow translate and send their messages through Google Translator. On Twitter, under my photos and posts, there is often a large correspondence in hieroglyphs. Several more times they sent me portraits in manga style. And once I found a very funny video on YouTube - Vitas’s performance and mine were edited as if we were singing together, although we had never sung on the same stage. But Vitas is very popular in China - and they apparently like me too, which is why they put us together. There are many videos with my performances and subtitles in Chinese. Of course, I loved kung fu films as a child, but I wasn’t particularly interested in Asian culture. It’s funny that they like me so much, I mostly sing patriotic songs about Russia. Maybe the fact is that such Soviet retro music reminds them of their common communist past.”
Producer Alexander Rodnyansky
about the distribution of the film “Stalingrad” in China, censorship and the tastes of Chinese viewers
Director-animator Mikhail Aldashin
about working on the sequel to “Cheburashka” with the Japanese
“The continuation of “Cheburashka” was filmed by Japanese director Makoto Nakamura with Korean animators. And we were responsible for the entire creative part - the script, animatic, music, recording of actors. For several years we worked by correspondence, the Japanese team came to Moscow, and we went to Korea to the studio. It was so comfortable to work with them in a way that rarely happens with anyone. The Japanese are incredibly meticulous and detail-oriented craftsmen. If you've been to Japan, you've probably noticed that there is literally not a centimeter of unkempt land there. There aren’t even trash cans anywhere, but it’s clean, no one throws trash. The only thing that slowed us down was Japanese politeness. At first they wrote me very long letters, which first contained a page of careful and polite explanations, and then a request to change something. Then I asked them to write to me more simply, straight to the point, in order to speed up the work. They agreed and everything went faster. My Japanese colleagues were unusually attentive to me. They brought me all sorts of elegant, touching things, including those decorated with Cheburashka. Recently I was passing through Japan and was immediately taken to dinner at a chic restaurant in a skyscraper. If I were a girl, I would think that they were courting me, they were so nice. At their request, I made sure that everything was in the spirit of Kachanov. The events of the cartoon take place in an old provincial town, which has a zoo and a visiting circus. We painted a lake - it turned out to be a very cozy town, in which I myself would not mind living for a while. The animation was puppet animation, just like in Kachanov’s films - it was important for the Japanese that the cartoon would turn out as if it had been filmed back then, in Soviet times. Sometimes we had to correct them a little, explain what we couldn’t possibly have. For example, initially the script included a scene in which the circus director invites a girl to a restaurant. And then he gets married. In Japan, the age of consent is 13 years old; upon reaching it, a girl can voluntarily have sex, and nothing will happen to anyone for it. But, of course, in a film “in the spirit of Kachanov” such a story could not happen, and we separated the director from the girl, and Gena and Cheburashka are friends with her completely innocently.”
Producer of artist Vitas Sergey Pudovkin
about success in China and that you shouldn’t focus so much on it
“There is probably no exact answer why Vitas is so popular in China (there are a million people in the singer’s official Chinese fan club, and there is even a statue of him in one of the Shanghai parks. - Note ed.) - simply, as always, the combination of his voice and bright appearance worked. The breakthrough happened in 2007 - there were many television projects and the first big concerts, since then a convincing presence in the PRC began, and the first album was released, which became platinum in 10 days - this is not an ordinary event even for China. In principle, there are few foreign performers there, and Vitas is lucky in this regard; in such a classic pop genre he has practically no competition.
However, I never attached myself to any region, did not think in these categories - everyone just learned about Chinese success, and it seemed so exotic, which is why they began to write and talk so much about it. But there is also a rush of concerts in Japan and in Korea, it’s just that the Chinese market is the largest, most massive and active.
The main thing here is not to adapt and not lose your face. Quite quickly, Vitas appeared several Chinese songs, in 2008, but there are not many of them - only five, and they are not always performed at solo concerts; the basis is always his own songs, which he performs as an author and composer. This is the most correct path for an artist - the basis of the repertoire should be the artist’s own personality, although we have songs in both Japanese and Korean. Of course, the East is an extremely important, interesting and promising market, but it is better to be in the East, and in the West, and at home - the world has long had no borders in this sense.”
Ten popular Asians who are taking over the world
J-pop singer, known for psychedelic videos
Miku Hatsune, Japan
A huge country with the largest population in the world, recognizable and unlike any other... China has its own and very individual music scene. People like to listen to modern musicians online, and academic performers conquer concert halls. A very bright, pronounced character, unique sound, and unique musical instruments make Chinese creativity attractive. The opera of this people is an art form that has no analogues in the world - where Chinese music coexists with amazing stage performances. With the beginning of the 21st century, popular music performers have become more active in China, mastering all fashionable genres: hip-hop, English-oriented pop music, new age. Albums and individual mp3s with such music often contain texts in English, and the performers take pseudonyms that Western listeners can remember.
Chinese traditional songs
When we want to listen to a collection of Chinese songs, we immediately imagine the sounds of national instruments: woodwind dizi, bells, gongs, stringed banhu and guqin, which are played with hammers. Thanks to centuries of isolation, Chinese music is very specific; it is based on a pentatonic scale associated with the peculiarities of pronunciation and intonation. We must remember that there are a lot of nationalities in China - if you want to download for free, for example, music from Tibet and Sichuan province, then these will be completely different melodies from each other. For lovers of exotic music, there is also Guo-yue - Chinese patriotic state songs.
We listened to new Chinese songs to select the best ones for our taste, and explained why they are remarkable. This release features Chinese neo-soul, Taiwanese synth-pop, Sichuan's answer to rapper Face, as well as celestial folk rock and sweet mandopop.
袁娅维 — 别废话 (Tia Ray — Don’t speak)
Chinese neo-soul princess Yuan Yawei (Tia Ray) has released a new album, “Tiara.” The album contains both lyrical ballads and aggressive tracks. As always, Tia skillfully and efficiently mixes Mandarin and jazz scat. For fans of Mariah Carey and Erykah Badu.
南瓜妮歌迷俱樂部 - 莎賓娜 (PUMPKINney Fan Club - Sabina)
Track "Sabina" by Taiwanese alt-rock band PUMPKINney Fan Club appeared at the band's concerts back in 2016. In April 2018, the official release of the single took place with an unexpected synthpop arrangement from the 80s.
Higher Brothers & DJ Snake - Made in China
Another re-release - the 2017 hit “Made in China” from the Sichuan trap collective “Higher Brothers” - was recently released in collaboration with the French DJ DJ Snake. The latter is a two-time Grammy nominee and MTV Video Music Awards winner. We remember the lines and look for 10 differences with original version.
许巍 - 无人知晓 (Xu Wei - Nobody knows)
At the beginning of April 2018, the cartoon “Cat Paradise” was released in China, the soundtrack for which was written by the famous Chinese rock musician Xu Wei. You could already listen to one of the title songs, “Nobody Knows” (无人知晓), in a recent episode of Laowaycast.
宋茜 — 屋顶着火 (Victoria Song — Roof on Fire)
The March premiere of “屋顶着火” by Chinese-Korean singer Song Qian is not leaving the charts. And thanks to dance flash mobs on Chinese social networks, it looks like it will remain the main Mandopop composition of this spring.
Wowkie Zhang - Rainbow swag
Da Zhangwei is an actor, TV presenter and former member of the now disbanded group "Flowers", which created meme songs back in the early 2000s (just remember 嘻唰唰). The artist does not forget where he started, and in April he presented another “brain rinsing” (洗脑神曲) track to Chinese youth “阳光彩虹小白马” (“Rainbow White”). The music can now be heard as the soundtrack to numerous short videos on the Douyin (抖音) app.
声音玩具 — 你的城市 (Soundtoy — Your city)
It seems that Chinese rock has not changed for the last 10 years. However, Chengdu rockers Sound Toys once again prove the relevance of rock ballads. The guys presented “Your City” two weeks ago, a song that has not left the top of the Douban resource rating.
黃衍仁 - 酒徒 (Wong Hinyan - Jiutu)
Composer, indie and folk musician Huang Yanren is known in Hong Kong for his work in independent film, theater and social activism. In 2016, his first album “Spitting Against the Wind” (逆风吐痰) was released, and in March 2018, thanks to crowdfunding, he released a new album “A Visit from the Moth” (飞蛾光顾).
江河乐队 - 画浓妆 (Jianghe yuedui - Huanongzhuang)
Young folk-rock band "Rivers" from a small town in Liaoning province. Their life song about a girl with “thick makeup” (画浓妆) captivates with its simplicity and catchy refrain. For Chinese urban youth, the song has become something of an anti-selfie anthem.
无高潮 – 1st (Nein or Gas Mus – 1st)
Without Orgasm call themselves the only band from Guangzhou that plays math rock. Having established themselves at several festivals and venues, their first single "1st" was featured on the popular Chinese indie music compilation "Nerd Noise" late last year. In April 2018, the Guangzhou band presented their first EP.
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Our country knows nothing about the music industry in China. Many will even be surprised that they have their own popular performers. We invite you to get acquainted with the most popular Chinese pop performers to make sure that there is music in China!
Wang Fei
Singer Wang Fei (Faye Wong) is one of the most popular singers in China. She was born in Beijing, but began her singing career only after moving to Hong Kong. Wang Fei sings most of his songs in Putonghua, the “common Chinese” dialect. Initially, the girl sang in pop style, but later began experimenting with different styles. Despite the fact that Wang Fei has almost no songs in English, she is popular not only in China, but throughout Asia, as well as in the West. Wang Fei also starred in several Chinese films.
Sa Dindin
Chinese singer with Mongolian roots Sa Dingding (real name Zhou Peng) is a folk singer and songwriter. The girl received her musical education at the Academy of Arts in Beijing at the insistence of her parents. Sa Dingding is a unique performer in China. She sings songs not only in Chinese, but also in Tibetan, Sanskrit, and the dead language Laguu. Moreover, her third studio album included songs in a language invented by the girl herself.
Xu Wei
Chinese rock musician Xu Wei first picked up a guitar at age 16 in 1984. Just 2 years later, he won the first guitar song competition in China. During his military service, Xu Wei composed songs, recorded them, and sometimes acted as a producer. In the early 90s of the last century, Xu Wei created his first group Fly. In China, the artist is known for his unique performance style. The singer still performs songs and is a famous performer in China.
Zhang Liangying
Chinese singer Zhang Liangying (better known as Jane Zhang) became famous in 2005 after participating in the Super Girl competition. Because of her performance style, the girl is often compared to Western singers, for example Christina Aguilera. The girl has a unique voice; her songs often resemble the singing of dolphins. Thanks to this feature of her voice, in China the girl is called “Princess Dolphin”.
You can hear the songs of these performers on the Internet, but, as they say: it’s better to see once than to hear a hundred times!
Today in the #e_Asia section we will return to the topic “Popular young groups from Asia”, but this time there will be no teams in it. Let's look at several groups from Korea and China, this will allow us to understand and evaluate whether music is developing in these countries, how open these groups are to the public, and what the situation is there in general.
Popular groups in Korea
Let's start with Korea first, since there is more information about its young performers. And the music market is well developed.
The first group we will look at today will be N.Flying. This is a young group formed in 2013. What is so special about her? Firstly, the genre style of performance - rock, pop rock, rap rock, alternative rock. Just from this description, you might think that this group will be similar to Linkin Park or Limp Bizkit. But this team is heavily influenced by the pop culture of the music market. And this band is also a project of the label, so for now they “carry out” the whims of the creator. Which also puts an imprint on the group’s work - after all, they are essentially idols, and the music has a bright color of the pop genre. But this problem concerns most of their market: popular young groups from Asia are most often created as projects of some labels, and it is the labels that contribute to the rapid rise of teams.
But let's get back to N.Flying. Secondly, the group began to gain its popularity, surprisingly, in Japan. From 2013 to 2015, the group released releases and performed concerts mainly for Japanese audiences, but in 2015 the group released its debut album on the Korean stage. However, this type of promotion is quite common. Why was such a step taken? Perhaps due to the fact that in Japan the rock music market is more developed, and popularity there guarantees popularity in Korea. But let's say for sure: N.Flying is an ambitious and quite interesting group.
One of the best singles from N.Flying is Lonely:
Next, let's look at the light indie duo lalasweet. This is a female duet formed in 2013. We found them interesting in the way they presented their music and the lightness that you felt after listening. The genre they work in is pop rock. As with the group above, they were influenced by their environment. But after watching the video from their concert, we especially liked the atmosphere, which smacks of something jazzy, chamber and warm. Quite interesting representatives of the Korean scene.
Listen to lalasweet on Yandex.Music:
By the way, you might ask: why did Eatmusic choose these bands? After all, popular young groups from Asia appear almost constantly, and stylistically you chose such different teams! But we will answer: why not? There are many groups, you can consider any. But these groups look more interesting in contrast, showing that in Korea there are groups of different directions and with different energy.
Popular groups in China
As it turned out, finding young Chinese groups turned out to be quite difficult. Since we don’t know the Chinese language, it’s not easy to find information in English (we generally keep quiet about the Russian language). But we still completed the task. As has already been said once, protest movements of rock music are more developed in China, which is associated with some rejection of rock music by the authorities. 
A Taiwanese team came into our field of vision BIZcashi. What is remarkable about this team is that this is a girl duet that performs songs in the post-rock genre (although after listening, one gets the feeling that it is more likely post-pop). So far, they have released one EP in 2015, immediately after officially forming. What got us hooked was the genre in which they play. And also the vocals: they are very pleasant, calm, it feels like they were created just for this kind of music. Since China in general loves post-movements, there are quite a lot of groups in this segment.
Watch the live performance of BIZcashi:
That's where we'll focus today on watching young bands from Asia. Next time we will try to find new bands from China, and also look at other countries - Singapore and Thailand.
